League Play-Off

Nixa Park
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Mansour Belkhadem was astounded when the referee showed him the red card after a seemingly innocent challenge, 5 minutes into the match. In the 7th minute of the game, Nixa FC got a penalty. The shot went straight in by the left post. Karim Metref received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 10th minute. Cheikha Hamdani tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 16 minutes into the match, Van Horn AFC's goalkeeper Cheikha Hamdani had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Karim Metref. Yacine Mazzid fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 18th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jean-Michel Zitouni having to interfere. Nixa FC's Smail Oussar shoveled away a really nice long shot in the 35th minute of play. The shot was stopped by Cheikha Hamdani but with some difficulty. Karim Metref might have been able to make a better finish in the 41st minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Cheikha Hamdani. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Karim Metref ran back to his position shaking his head. In the 46th minute, Nixa FC's Tedj Khalef ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Cheikha Hamdani. Cheikha Hamdani yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 2-0. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 2-0 at half-time.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Tedj Khalef made a kick off. Tedj Khalef received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 52nd minute. Cheikha Hamdani tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After 57 minutes Van Horn AFC's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Abdelmalek El-Hadi who took care of the corner kick. Cheikha Hamdani showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tedj Khalef in the 60th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Tedj Khalef in the 61st minute of play forced Van Horn AFC's goalkeeper Cheikha Hamdani to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Van Horn AFC's Cheikha Hamdani played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tedj Khalef in the 64th minute of play. After 65 played minutes Van Horn AFC got a freekick which was hit by Nouara Mihoubi. A collision led to Nixa FC getting a freekick after 67 minutes play. Abdelmalek El-Hadi hit a great ball. When Yacine Mazzid came up free with the goalie in the 70th minute, the Van Horn AFC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Yacine Mazzid couldn't finish the play. After a defensive mix-up in Nixa FC's zone, Nouara Mihoubi stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Jean-Michel Zitouni came out of the goal and Nouara Mihoubi tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. When Nouara Mihoubi came up free with the goalie in the 74th minute, the Van Horn AFC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Nouara Mihoubi couldn't finish the play. In the 78th minute, Yacine Mazzid got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. After a rather tough play, Nixa FC's Camel Bahari got a free kick in the 79th minute. Yacine Mazzid received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 80th minute. Jean-Michel Zitouni tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The audience thought a goal was coming when Yacine Mazzid got free with Jean-Michel Zitouni in the 82nd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. If Yacine Mazzid had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 84th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 85 minutes into the game, Camel Bahari was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Nixa FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Van Horn AFC the free kick. In the 85th match minute, Nixa FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Camel Bahari to maneuver through the defense. Karim Metref sent away a hard shot on goal in the 88th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After some fancy dribbling in the 89th minute, Tedj Khalef managed to get in a good position for a shot. Nixa FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Tedj Khalef was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Cheikha Hamdani breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The supporters of Nixa FC booed when Van Horn AFC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 96 match minutes in a wonderful position. Abdelnasser Hasni didn't get a good kick on the ball. Van Horn AFC's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.